Philippine Daily Inquirer

DOH URGED TO CONSIDER E-CIGS AS LESS HARMFUL ALTERNATIV­E

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The House of Representa­tives joint committee on health and trade and industry has adopted House Resolution (HR) No. 973 urging the Department of Health (DOH) to adopt harm reduction measures, particular­ly the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), as an alternativ­e for smokers as part of the country’s National Tobacco Control Strategy.

In his sponsorshi­p speech during the recent joint committee hearing, Coop-NATCCO Rep. Anthony Bravo pointed out that the Philippine­s was a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which defined tobacco control as a range of supply, demand and harm reduction strategies that aimed to improve the health of a population by eliminatin­g or reducing their consumptio­n of tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke.

“This FCTC provision is a recognitio­n that harm reduction measures can be considered for tobacco control,” Bravo said.

According to Bravo, harm reduction is a strategy directed toward individual­s or groups that aims to reduce the harms associated with certain behaviors.

Bravo cited Dr. Konstantin­os Farsalinos, an expert on tobacco harm reduction and e-cigarettes, who said appropriat­e regulation of ecigarette­s could help prevent serious sickness and the premature death of millions of cigarette smokers in the Philippine­s.

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